Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day came out firing at President Barack Obama and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist during a speech to the Republican Women of Collier County at The von Liebig Art Center in Naples on Thursday.

Day, who was elected RNC secretary in 2009 and co-chair in 2011 and 2013, said Florida’s 2014 gubernatorial election marks a pivotal challenge for Republicans.

“We must make sure that Florida is red again and nobody falls for the phoniness of Charlie Crist,” Day said to a crowd of about 125 people in the art center’s Frederick O. Watson Gallery. “The Democrat or Independent or whatever he’s going to transform into next week was bad for us the first time around, and he’d be worse the second time around.”

Crist, a Republican when he served as Florida governor from 2007 to 2011, identified as an Independent when he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, a race he eventually lost to Sen. Marco Rubio. Crist is opposing current Gov. Rick Scott as a Democrat in November.

Day touted Scott’s record of falling unemployment in Florida before comparing Crist and Scott to Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee Obama bested in the 2012 presidential election.

“Rick Scott’s humble,” Day said. “He’s not a braggart and he’s not a big personality. We saw what happened in 2012 when a big personality, empty-suited, phony person took out an honorable man who should’ve been our president.”

Day, who lives in Broward County, also weighed in on the troubles of Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fort Myers, who returned to work on Capitol Hill on Tuesday after he was busted in Washington, D.C. in November for cocaine possession.

“It’s congressman Radel’s — and his constituents’ — decision on his future,” she said. “I don’t select the candidates and I don’t control the primaries. My mission is to get Republicans elected.”

Mike Lyster, chairman of the Collier County Republican Executive Committee, said his organization remains in favor of Radel stepping down.

“We made a statement asking for his resignation, and there’s no change in that,” Lyster said. “He’s back in D.C. now and he said he’s going to represent his constituents to the best of his abilities. I talk with him frequently, and my primary concern is for his family. He’s said he’s lost his way, and I have personal empathy for him.”

Nancy Matthews of Naples, who attended Thursday’s event with her husband, said Radel has her support — for now.

“I think we should give him a chance, and I hope he gets the help he needs,” she said. “He has a lovely family, and that should be his focus. We’ll see.”

Day said finding Republican women candidates for elected office represents a main goal for the GOP.

“We ran a survey of first-time candidates, and 67 percent of men felt they were qualified or overqualified for elected office, and only 33 percent of women felt the same way,” she said. “Women need to find a comfort zone. Women are not going to change the dynamics of our party or the country until more of us are sitting at the table where the decisions are made and where the money is spent.”